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Evidently, yesterday was the day for hot web startups to feel some heat from their loyal followings, with the discovery and disclosure of less-than-transparent practices by the up-and-coming social sharing application, Path, and the blazing hot online scrapbook/visual curation platform, Pinterest. Add in the less-than-appreciated Wes Welker-Butterfinger stunt perpetrated by Pawngo on Tuesday, and it’s been a pretty bad week to have your company listed under “P” in the phonebook on Crunchbase. And, it’s only Thursday.
Path is a limited social network and sharing tool that has built a devoted user base of people growing tired of the monstrous scale of the incumbents, namely Facebook and Twitter. Users report feeling a much stronger and more personal connection with the people they share with on Path, due to the more private nature of allowing only 150 total connections. On top of that, it’s a downright beautiful piece of design and user experience work. On Wednesday, it was revealed that Path was “secretly” downloading and storing the address books from users’ iPhones. People immediately pointed out the privacy violations, irresponsible storage of data, and supposed quests for world domination that must be in place with such a large cache of data. Conspiracy theories aside – Path missed one thing that ruffled feathers: they never asked.
Path asks users to opt in to this activity in the Android version of Path. So, why not in the iPhone version? Initially, Path claimed that it was not in violation of the App Store policies – a claim that was later disputed – and that users were implicitly agreeing to this simply by installing the app. Maybe so, but users don’t like to be told that they didn’t read the terms of use closely enough. In the end, Path did what many users feel was “the right thing” by adding the opt-in to the iOS app, deleting all existing data, and making a formal apology. Despite this, Path still has an unfortunate black eye, and no doubt has lost some of its users in this episode.
Separately, Pinterest has been scrutinized for (the shock!) trying to actually make money as a young startup. Turns out that some of those 11.7 million monthly unique visitors (who are no doubt planning a wedding, a dream house, a dinner party, a new hairstyle and a sassy new nail color all at the same time) don’t like the fact that Pinterest has been making money off of their visual dreams and aspirations. What’s interesting, is that the money they are making is through affiliate marketing commissions – not through any sort of personal data they are collecting – at least not yet. This practice is almost as old as online commerce in general, and seems to be referenced clearly in the Pinterest terms of use:
“By making available any Member Content through the Site, Application or Services, you hereby grant to Cold Brew Labs [Pinterest] a worldwide, irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, royalty-free license, with the right to sublicense, to use, copy, adapt, modify, distribute, license, sell, transfer, publicly display, publicly perform, transmit, stream, broadcast, access, view, and otherwise exploit such Member Content only on, through or by means of the Site, Application or Services.”
But again, they never asked.
Users will agree to just about anything when a 100 square pixel checkbox is all that stands between them and joining that hot new social network. So – users will be upset that they “were never told” that each time they click a link on Pinterest, there is a chance that a small portion of any money they spend on that product may get kicked back to the company whose platform allowed them to discover it in the first place. So guess what people – that online Pinboard that you created is really an online catalog of lots of products from different vendors. Pretty brilliant, actually, as Pinterest has essentially found a way to get you to market the lifestyle that you desire, with the financial rewards going to them.
Pinterest should acknowledge this, in much the same way that Path acknowledged their indiscretions. If they wanted to go a step further, they could allow users to opt in to the affiliate marketing program, or – wild and crazy idea – maybe even share in the affiliate commission.
January 1: 224.6
January 6: 217.4
This week:
Strong avoidance (though not complete avoidance) of wheat and processed sugars. Proteins, veggies, fruits, coffee and water. Had small pieces of dark chocolate on most days to address sweet tooth and feel like I was cheating. Couple late glasses (small) of red wine. One 8oz beer at Crossroads after run on Thursday.
Training included:
January 1: easy 3 mile run
January 2: 6 miles
January 3: 45 min trainer ride
January 4: 45 min ride
January 5: 7.3 mile run
January 6: 4 miles
Today is refueling day.
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The 2011 Hollywood Holiday Infographic - coming soon to a holiday card near you.
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I am not Rob Base.
Bling!